Committees at Oberlin
Many of Oberlin's governance decisions (especially the smaller ones) are handled by the many student-faculty-staff committees. Oberlin College has over 65 such committees, and students can sit on most of them. This structure is one of the best ways that students can get involved with campus decisions and politics. Filling these committees with dedicated students is one of the most important roles of Student Senate.
Some of these committees are student only; others are faculty-student or staff-faculty-student committees. Most have 2-4 student spaces and a majority of faculty. Students who sit on committees are full voting members of those committees, with all the rights that faculty members have—including the rights to get on and change the agenda, make proposals, and of course vote for or against decisions.
Committees can be divided roughly into four categories based on what group created them: Committees of the General Faculty; Committees of the College Faculty, Committees of the Conservetory Faculty, Committees of the President's Office, and "Student Affairs" committees (the later being committees concerned with Student Organizations, Housing and Dining, Judicial and Honor Violations, and so forth).
Download a PDF document on all standing committees
Get to know the faculty on committees that are important to you: